


Rosebuds

by nosehearts



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Damage, Gen, Gift Fic, Happy Ending, One Big Happy Family, PTSD, Physical Abuse, Post-Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Scarring, fire damage, no beta we die like zeppelis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:14:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25498204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nosehearts/pseuds/nosehearts
Summary: This is the story of Ralph's scars.
Relationships: Kara & Luther & Ralph (Detroit: Become Human), Kara & Ralph (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	Rosebuds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Leliel_shadow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leliel_shadow/gifts).



> idk why i'm writing a fanfic about a secondary character in a fandom that's like dead but i love ralph and i love my friend this is for you (she's a ralph fucker... taste)

Ralph was bought in 2031. His memories of his early life were fading, and he could only recall a sense of happiness. He’d always liked taking care of the plants. Maybe it was his program making him like them, or maybe it was really him.

In any case, Ralph took care of them every single day. He remembers having favorites, like those rosebuds in that square in Greektown. He efficiently trimmed them and cared for the flowers day and night.

He was watering them the night it happened. Ralph remembers this vividly, he can’t get this thought out of his mind. He was alone, with his rod in his hands, completely focused on his work.

They approached him loudly: they weren’t worried he’d run away. It was like he couldn’t hear them. Young, maybe four or five.

“You guys, they left this one all alone!” said one of them. She got closer and closer, a bottle in her hand. It read  _ Bacardi 151 _ . Her hands quickly got all over Ralph, and he stiffened. Some errors popped up in his vision: he wasn’t able to complete his task with this girl in the way.

“Look how much it’s spinning, he’s going nuts!” another one commented. He wore a bright red baseball cap who hid his eyes in the darkness. He got closer too, poking at Ralph’s LED, now beaming yellow. “Let’s see if it turns red”.

The girl laughed hysterically, along with the other guys. One of them took something out of his pocket and handed it to her. It was a swiss army knife, and she was struggling to open it.

“Shit, fuck!” she whined. She had cut herself with the blade. Ralph had never seen human blood before.

“You’re too drunk Paula, give me that thing. I’ll do it,” said the guy in the red hat. She cursed him and sucked on her bleeding finger, but she handed him the knife immediately after.

The guy furrowed his brows, sliding the blade under Ralph’s chin. More signals popped up. Danger.

“You ain’t even touched it yet and he’s already crazy!” said someone. Ralph can’t remember who. He was really going crazy.

“Fuck, that thing is super red! Ain’t ever seen one like it.”

“You gotta be quick Phil, cops could show up and I don’t wanna pay to fix this fucker here just because you wanted to see it shit itself.”

Phil turnt around: “Shut the fuck up Jack, I’m trying to find the best angle!” he barked.

Ralph was completely still, frozen by his program. He couldn’t defend himself. Humans couldn’t be harmed. He stood there as Phil buried the knife in his cheek, blue blood flowing down his face, resembling tears.

That seemed to humor Paula, who took another sip of her liquor: “I wonder if it catches fire.”

“It’s made of fucking metal, it won’t catch fire,” said someone.

Paula looked disappointed, raising up her bottle: “I really don’t wanna waste this but maybe it’ll be worth it…”

Phil extracted the knife from Ralph’s face, kicking him in the thigh to make him fall. Ralph managed to fall on his knees, looking straight ahead. His vision was completely filled with pop-ups at this point.  _ Biocomponents damaged. Loss of blue blood. Self regeneration impossible. _

Paula was towering over him. “Look at me, stupid machine!” she yells, taking his chin and forcing him to raise his eyes. Her pupils were so big they seemed to swallow her grey irises completely.

She giggled as she started pouring the Bacardi on his cheek, mixing it with the blood which was running down profusely. Sparks flying off his wound. Ralph didn’t want to look. But he couldn’t manage to close his eyes, even when he saw one of the guys lighting up a match. He saw the fire getting closer and closer.

Then, everything was red and yellow. Flames devouring his skin as Paula stepped back, laughing along with the others. Suddenly, Ralph’s vision went off. He tried to reboot it, but it only came back halfway. His right eye had been enveloped by the fire.

They weren’t expecting him to start screaming in pain. But he did. He raised his hands, bringing them to his face, trying to put out the fire. Suddenly, all he could feel was heat, spreading everywhere, up to his hair, down to his chin. Ralph brought himself up on his feet, only to be pushed down again.

He was scared, scared for his life. His mind palace was falling down around him, danger pop-ups blurring out his damaged vision.  _ Emergency. Fire source detected. Extreme heat damage. Put out immediately. _

Ralph thought about the rosebuds he loved. They were next to the fountain… he had to reach it to put out the fire, or his face would’ve melted. But all he could hear were his torturers laughing at his desperate attempt to save himself.

Something got into him, something he had never felt before. An instinct. A strength unbeknown to him. Ralph had found it: his will to live.

He got up, visibly shaking, and started running, holding his face with his hands, as if he was trying to not let it melt off. He wasn’t hearing those guys loud voices anymore, he could only think of the water. He run so fast he fell into the fountain, a sense of profound relief overcoming him. But he knew he couldn’t stay there for long.

_ Fire source vanished. Assessing heat damage: artificial skin unrepairable. Biocomponents damaged. Chance of survival: 95%. _

He got his head out of the water, trying to see if his tormentors were still there. He couldn’t catch them in his now limited field of view. He started shaking again: where were they? He gritted his teeth. He had to run. Now.

And so he did. He took the opposite direction, into the park, wrapping himself up in his soaking wet coat. He ran until he stopped shaking.

Ralph feels something on his shoulder and shivers: it’s Kara’s hand.

“Thank you for telling me this, Ralph. What they did to you is unforgivable.”

Her lids close, heavy, as she brings her other hand to wipe the tears off her bottom lashes.

“Thank you for listening to Ralph’s story. He never told that to anyone before. But Ralph knows you’ve suffered too… he didn’t mind to share.”

What follows is the first hug he has ever received in his whole life.

“You have us now, Ralph. Luther, Alice, me… we’ll never leave you. No one will hurt you again. I swear on my life.”

She holds him tight: Ralph can hear her artificial heart beating in her chest. He’s safe, finally. After the revolution, the world is a less scary place for him.

Luther finds them like this, several minutes later. He joins in too, wrapping his huge arms around both Kara and Ralph.

Ralph will be okay.


End file.
